In a computing world that often seems increasingly captured by the “point and click” mindset, it’s useful, now and then, to be reminded of the power and value of the command line. I’m not a “I do everything in the terminal from the command line” guy but I do often find that certain tasks are more easily accomplished that way.
Over at zwischenzugs, Ian Miell illustrates that power with his post, Seven Surprising Bash Variables. If you’ve been using Bash for a while, you’re probably familiar with some of them but there’s likely some on his list that you haven’t seen. I was surprised to learn about the REPLY variable and how it can make getting interactive responses in the shell easier. Take a look at his post for the details and some other useful Bash variables.
If you like that post you might also enjoy his post on Bash options, Eight Obscure Bash Options You Might Want to Know About. Both posts are definitely worth a few minutes of your time. Unless you’re permanently stuck in point and click mode.